Elmira Sugar Kings forward Kurtis Goodwin carries the puck against the Cambridge Redhawks. (Censational Photography)

Tie atop Midwest as the gap between best and rest widens

The Waterloo Siskins and Listowel Cyclones have consistently looked like the best two teams in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League's Midwestern Conference for most of the season, and after the weekend they are deadlocked atop the standings. Neither team has yet to see its regulation losses reach double digits, nor have the Stratford Warriors hanging around in third place. With under 15 games to play in the regular season, the hierarchy between the best and the rest is officially set. 

The Cyclones took advantage of a Siskins off night on Friday as Listowel hosted the Kitchener Dutchmen at Steve Kerr Arena. Special teams were the difference in this heated affair as the Cyclones went 2-for-2 on the powerplay and added a short-handed goal in the dying minutes to ice the victory, 5-2. Kitchener was 1-for-6 on its powerplay and could not generate much offense other than a late push in the third period. Holdyn Lansink powered Listowel with two goals and two assists. Stratford kept pace with Listowel by dismantling the struggling Elmira Sugar Kings, 7-1. Drew Welsch had a goal and two assists for Stratford while Karson Massey scored the lone goal for Elmira. The game got away from the referees in the third period as the teams went on to combine for 90 minutes in penalties. Over in Brampton, the Cambridge Redhawks played one of their most complete games of the season, beating the Bombers, 4-1. Cambridge poured 42 shots on Brampton's goal out-shooting the Bombers by 17 shots. Devyn Oprana scored twice for the Redhawks, including a powerplay marker in the second period. 

On Saturday night, Cambridge returned home to host the Siskins and again turned in a promising effort, this time falling 4-3. After Waterloo opened the scoring early in the second period, Cambridge scored three straight goals, including two on the powerplay, to take a 3-1 lead into the final frame. In the third, the Siskins scored three straight of their own and held on for the tight win. Owen Lane scored two of the three third period goals for Waterloo, highlighted by the game-winner with just over a minute to play. Kitchener was also back in action on Saturday night, edging the Brantford 99ers on the road, 3-2. Owen McKnight, Blair Derynck and Alex Peterson scored for Kitchener in the second period before Lucas Patton held off a 99ers push in the third period, finishing with 27 saves. 

Sunday featured three high-scoring affairs, beginning with Stratford visiting Waterloo in the afternoon. A quiet first period from both teams was followed up by a second period outburst by the Warriors, erupting for three goals on 19 shots, opening up a 3-1 lead going into the third. Stratford scored another three times to Waterloo's two, and the Warriors cruised to a 6-3 win. Sean Ross and Nathan Smilsky both scored twice for Stratford. Elmira opened the scoring early in its tilt with the visiting Listowel Cyclones, but the lead was short-lived. Listowel's lethal powerplay went to work in the second period scoring three times, and later delivering the dagger midway through the third on route to a 5-4 victory. Listowel's top line of Holdyn Lansink, Chayse Herrfort and Brayden Krieger each contributed three points, as the three of them sit first, second and third respectively in Midwest scoring. The final game of the weekend proved to be the wildest, as Cambridge and Brampton met again in Brampton. After Cambridge scored the lone goal of the opening frame, defense went out the window in the second. The teams combined for six goals, and the Redhawks found themselves in command 5-2 after 40 minutes. The lead would be extended to four early in the third on Devyn Oprana's second of the night, but Brampton then rallied for four straight goals to tie the game at six and send it into overtime. The four-on-four period settled nothing, but John McDonald ended the back-and-forth affair two minutes into three-on-three and Cambridge prevailed, 7-6. 

The Siskins and Cyclones each have 51 points and sit tied for first in the Midwest, but Listowel has two games in hand over the Siskins. Close behind are the Stratford Warriors with 48 points, and will pull even with Listowel for games-played when they visit the Kitchener Dutchmen tonight at Kinsmen Arena. The Dutchies have crept up on Elmira (42 points), now only a point behind the Sugar Kings for fourth place. It is looking like a first-round playoff matchup between Elmira and Kitchener is all but settled, however home-ice advantage is still very much up for grabs. Cambridge (28 points), Brantford (19 points) and Brampton (16 points) round out the bottom three teams.